Election '96. Convention.

O'hare, Midway Spread Wings To Welcome Democratic Conventioneers

Visitors to the Democratic National Convention won't get that lonely, strange-place feeling when they land at O'Hare International Airport in a few weeks.

At least that's the goal of city officials and convention planners who have held monthly meetings for more than a year to figure out how to make delegates and other visitors feel at home beginning with their first step from plane to terminal.

Conventioneers will be greeted in word, and in some cases song, by volunteer hosts. They'll also be treated to a splash of color in special decorations.

Meanwhile, special terminal exhibits are planned to mark the historic occasion, and airport landscaping is trimmed and blooming on cue.

Officials who see the convention as an opportunity to polish the city's image figure that the best place to begin is at O'Hare and at Midway Airport, too, where special efforts also will be made to welcome the visitors.

About 35,000 people are expected for the Aug. 26 to 29 convention, from delegates and their families to members of the media to VIPs. That doesn't count visitors who may be drawn to the city because of the festivities but have no direct connection to the political parley.

Members of state delegations typically will arrive together by plane. When they step out of the jetway, they will be met by uniformed volunteer greeters, expected to number 150 by convention time.

Some will be from the League of Chicago Theatres, and they will present welcomes in song and dance, said Anne Rashford, director of public affairs for the Aviation Department.

"Because of Democratic support for the National Endowment for the Arts, they want to show their support," Rashford said.

The greeters will usher the delegates to baggage-claim areas to help them retrieve their luggage. Then they will steer the visitors to vans reserved for their trips to downtown hotels.

Members of President Clinton's Cabinet and other VIPs will be driven downtown by volunteers.

About 1,500 workers at both airports will undergo special customer service training beginning this month, officials said.

Convention banners have been affixed to light poles bordering the airport's roadway. And in each of the three domestic terminals, plans call for hoisting a 10-by-28-foot decorative banner and posting 56 flags representing the states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the city's official convention host committee, called Chicago '96.

Midway's interior is getting similar treatment, though banners won't be quite so large because of the terminal's low ceiling.